Sir John Major speaks at Yorkshire event

Sir John Major was the keynote speaker at this year’s Variety Yorkshire Business Awards.

Sir John was joined by guests of honour and recipients of the Bobbie Caplin Yorkshire Legend Award, The Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett and Gervase Phinn at the event, which raised more than £138,000 for sick, disabled and underprivileged children across the region.

Sir John revealed that, on a personal level, this was a particularly poignant visit, as it was 102 years since his late father topped the bill at Leeds City Varieties. He also paid tribute to Variety Yorkshire, stating: “Charities are truly the soul of our communities … we should applaud and celebrate our nation’s compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves.”

On receiving the Bobbie Caplin OBE Yorkshire Legend Award, The Rt Hon The Lord Blunkett said it was “a privilege to be here” and that, “what we put in, we get back and if we help others we help ourselves”… urging that, “each of us has a role to play.”

Gervase Phinn, regaled the audience with tales of his work as a schools inspector and made the important point that, “a child’s success depends on their self-esteem.” He noted that “We cannot always answer a child’s tomorrow but we can answer a child’s today.’

Presented by Nina Hossain, the hotly anticipated Awards celebrate the very best in business in Yorkshire. Following an intense day of judging the winners for Yorkshire Business Awards 2018 were announced as:

Business Leader of the Year

Debbie Bestwick, Team.17

Board of the Year

Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate Ltd

SME of the Year

Sumo Group Plc

Standout Small Business of the Year

Twinkl